Onward!
5th – Hungary. When you get a brilliant song and a very good singer, you can tackle any subject, no matter how taboo, and make a good fist of this. Andras believed every word, it was personal and well crafted and connected.
4th – Armenia. However, when you have a badly crafted song, with a bad singer singing the same phrase at you over and over – a winner you do not make. This is the perfect embodiment of “Enough already” and no matter how much it connected – it hurt the ears of Europe. Too low for the broadcaster but just about right.
3rd – Sweden. On the minus side of the column, the law of Diminishing returns at Eurovision came back to haunt Sanna , better songs she had and better results she could have got – however she was left with this and she squeezed every point out of it – despite DR’s efforts to banjax the thing with dodgy lighting effects and leaving doors open and stuff. A perfectly acceptable result for her – but not, i’d wager, for SVT who had planned the winners party?!
2nd – The Netherlands. Boy this this confound me. Never saw it coming and, when it arrived, slapped Europe round the face and said “vote for this – not Conchita” and they did, in droves. Arguably the commercial winner of the contest in hindsight because of its success and simpleness to listen to. Easy listening works, ask Radio 2!! but again, if proof were needed, that a simple song, staging and performance (and one two-minute steady camera shot) still works at this contest (c/f Lisa Andreas)